"O Fortuna" Mondegreens -- Animated!

A mondegreen is a misinterpretation of a phrase with a near-homophony of the original. Usually this results in a new (and often humorous) meaning. In the case of Carl Orff's "O Fortuna," it can also provide some welcome relief to this over-used and often over-blown work.

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring -- an amazing video

Why are we posting a Japanese commercial for a smartphone on WTJU Classical Comments?

Because there's a strong connection. This ad, running a remarkable 3:30 in length, uses a specially constructed instrument to play Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." It's a beautiful concept, beautifully executed, and the sound is, well, natural. Enjoy!

In harmony with 12 12 12

Today is December 12, 2012. For some, that makes it National Aircheck Day (1-2, 1-2, 1-2). For others, 12/12/12 means its the perfect time to celebrate dodecaphonic, or 12-tone music.

And that's all the excuse we need to post this ad from conductor Matthias Bamert. Enjoy! (testing, testing, 1-2, 1-2)

The Music Animation Machine: seeing the structure of music

I ran across this amazing music program the other day. The Music Animation Machine does exactly what the name says -- it takes music and converts it to animated graphics. But it does more than that. Those graphics show pitch, duration and convergence.

You don't have to read music to see what the Music Animation Machine illustrating. And that's great. Because it's now possible for someone to see what musicians hear -- the organization and structure of music.

It's particularly effective for contrapuntal music, where independent lines weave in and out of each other to create the harmony. Watch this example of a Gabrieli Canzon. Converted to animated graphics, the structure of the music retains its beauty.


Technology in the arts? Sometimes its a great thing.

cdza and the Human Jukebox

cdza is a collection of extremely talented musicians that put out a series of videos. But not just ordinary music videos. Rather, cdza creates videos that zoom in on different aspects of music, forcing the audience to re-examine their assumptions about the art.

These fast-paced videos work because everyone involved is a top-flight musician (or videographer). After you've viewed a cdza video once for the message, go back and view it again with an eye to the performances. You'll see some amazing technique and musicians in full command of their instruments.

It's no wonder cdza gives each of their videos an opus number. These are indeed major works!

In this video, cdza asks the musical question, "Which would you rather hear? Classical, pop, or something else?" And people voted with their dollars.


Here at WTJU we have a fund-drive coming up in a few weeks.I wonder how a human jukebox would fare in our listening area?

Gaga about the Fugue

A new video based on a very old tradition has been making the rounds. Italian composer Giovanni Dettori has composed a fugue based on a motif found in Lady Gaga's song, "Bad Romance." Composers have been using popular music for contrapuntal fodder for centuries -- sometimes to the disapproval of their audiences (or patrons).

The French folk song "L'Homme Armé" was extremely popular in the 1400's. And the shape of the melody lent itself very well to contrapuntal treatment. As a result, quite a few composers of the time used the song as a basis for their mass settings. So when you see a sacred work titled "Missa L'Homme Armé," then you know this highest form of religious music was based on a pop song.

Which takes us back to Dettori's fugue. As you can see (and hear) from the following video, it's a thorough treatment of Gaga's motif. This is counterpoint as championed by Bach, and if you pay close attention, you'll hear the thematic material transformed as it's played against itself, stretched, condensed, and even reversed.


And while the composition's a lot of fun, it also stands on its own merit. If you've never heard Lady Gaga, or knew of the origin of the theme, it's still an enjoyable fugue.

But just for reference, here's the music in its original context.

Understanding Minimalism

It's difficult to talk about music. As a friend of mine once remarked, "you're trying to put into words something that couldn't be expressed with words in the first place."

There are two videos, though, that may help folks understand one of the important underlying concepts of minimalism. When music is stripped down to its basics, what provides the conflict, the forward motion that we're used to with tonal music?

For some composers, such as Steve Reich, it's the changing relationship between musical elements as they gradually move "out of phase" with one another, and then back in. In the video below, this change is demonstrated physically. Note how complex and beautiful patterns emerge as the pendulums swing, each in their own regular, but unique arc.



Reich uses this concept frequently. "Clapping Music" is one of his simpler (and shorter) works -- on paper. It's scored for two musicians clapping hands. The patterns are simple quarter-note and eighth-note combinations that repeat. The video below shows the score in action.



After you watch it, try just listening to it. The sound is much more complex -- and engaging, then the simple patterns would suggest. And that's the point. Very simple elements combined in every possible way.

But don't think of this as just wind-up music. There are many compositional decisions to be made (instrumental combinations, timbres, durations, tempo, etc.) and one has to be able to  imagine what all these possible combinations will sound like. And it all has to elicit an emotional response. It's more art than math.

Minimalism has different aesthetic, perhaps, than older tonal music, but it's one that works. Both visually and audibly!

What's My (Melodic) Line?

Think of any game show currently on the air. Now picture the host and contestants for that show. Now picture the arrival of a prominent American composer -- say, John Adams -- onto the program. What do you think the reaction would be? Would the host even recognize Adams, much less have anything intelligent to say to him? What about the other contestants? How would they react?

It all sounds very surreal, doesn't it? But there was a time when this actually happened.

"What's My Line?" was a succesful, if somewhat sedate, game show that ran from 1950 to 1967. The show was basically a variant on 20 questions. A mystery guest would sign in, and a celebrity panel  would attempt to guess their occupation, or sometimes their identity. The panel consisted of some of the brightest and sophisticated wits of the New York scene, and it wasn't often they were stumped.

On September 30, 1962, composer William Schuman was the mystery guest -- a figure recognizable enough that the panel had to be blindfolded. Here's the clip from that show. What I find interesting is that it's clear the audience also knows who he is, and that the panel does, too. I wonder if John Adams would fair equally well on "Deal or No Deal."

Sipes and the Artful Fugue

Erica Ann Sipes is a talented pianist and cellist living and working in Blacksburg, Virginia. Her blog always provides interesting insights on music performance. Her recent post, "Fugues, Glorious Fugues" manages -- in a few short paragraphs -- to present impressions of this form from the inside as a performer, and on the outside as a casual listener.

Sipes also includes this wonderful video from Lenzorg (and you know how we love fugal videos).



Erica Ann Sipes writes;

I love it when music is magical.
I love it when beauty is combined with order.
I love fugues!

We couldn't agree more.

Alt-Classical Aston

The interface between popular and classical music always holds the promise of innovation -- a promise not often realized. Brahms wrote waltzes, the popular dance form of the day. Leroy Anderson created short orchestral bonbons that spoke the vernacular of tin pan alley. Gershwin easily moved between the opera house and Broadway, and so on.

A group of music students in Australia bring their classical training (and chops) to the world of pop. And the result (I think) might possibly be considered alt-classical. While covering current Top 40 hits, Aston doesn't simply play a note-for-note recreation. Rather, the original song is merely the starting point.

Aston features an unusual line up that's more in line with a contemporary chamber ensemble rather than a pop group. And that results in a neo-classical sound that's not out of line with contemporary classical music.

So give it a listen. The less familiar you are with the original, the more "classical" this may sound. Alt-classical, indeed.



Here's the original of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" for comparison.

Picturing Music

Renaud Hallee is a talented video animator and composer based in Montreal. He combines both those skills in this video. And while there have been many wedding of animated images with music, the abstract nature of Bar's graphics illustrates the work at a deeper level than a more literal approach could.

As you watch the video, pay close attention to the details. Like most classical music, each element serves more than one function. Everyone pictures music differently, but in this video Hallee manages to share his vision of his sound.

Pi Spears a Fugue

So what is a fugue, anyway? Bach wrote a boatload of them, and many other composers did as well, or incorporated fugal elements into their compositions. Unless you've had some musical training, it can be a difficult concept to grasp (especially if you don't read music).

Daniel Pi created this humorous video explaining how to write a fugue for fun, but it's also quite a good place for the non-musician to start. In the video, Pi creates a three-part fugue, and at one point has three different versions of himself talking to the camera.

Pay attention to those segments, because he's actually performing a spoken word fugue. The first person starts, then the second chimes in with the same words (motif), then the third. Yes, it's hard to understand all three when they're talking together, but eventually they come together to say the same thing at the same time -- your cue that this is important.

And listening to a fugue is pretty much the same process. You can focus in on any of the voices, as they all are playing a melody, or take a step backwards and admire how they all fit together to make something greater than the whole.



And kudos to Mr. Pi for choice of material. I agree that Brittany Spears' pre-skank material is probably her strongest.

All The Great Operas in 10 Minutes

Yesterday's post was a serious, thoughtful look at one of Wagner's less-known operas. Today's post takes a different tack.

Toronto animator Kim Thompson created a short video that gives a capsule plot summaries of some of the repertoire standards -- including the Ring Cycle! It's fast, fun, and whether you're into opera or not, pretty darned entertaining.



And she's right. The music's pretty good, too.

As we demonstrate at least twice a week with Ann Shaffer's Tuesday evening program "A Time for Singing," and our Sunday Opera Matinee. Now that you know the stories, check out the music!

Holiday Programming - Classical Sunrise

Sunday, Dec. 20 a special edition of Classical Sunrise begins at 6 AM on WTJU, 91.1fm (heard online at wtju.net). Host Deborah Murray will be presenting Johann Sebastian Bach's "Christmas Oratorio," BWV 248.

The work consists six parts, one for each of the six feast days of Christmas. This massive oratorio was premiered on Christmas day, 1734 in Leipzig. Although meant to be performed over several Sundays, the organization and overarching structure of the music indicate that Bach thought of the "Weihnachtsoratoirum" as a unified whole.

Which is just the way Deborah's going to present it!

Boppin' with Babbitt

Bad Plus is an interesting jazz combo. Interesting in the sense of hard to classify.

Case in point: they've taken a classical composition and arranged it for their trio. Now that's not a surprising statement in an of itself. George Gershwin's shared by both the classical and jazz worlds, and the rich harmonies of romantic and post-romantic classical music lend themselves naturally to improvisation.

But Bad Plus chose Milton Babbitt. Babbitt's music is very complex, and for many people require several hearings to understand just what he's about.

Not quite "I Got Rhythm." Although Bad Plus supplies it (rhythm, that is). And choreography. It's a refreshing take on a part of classical music that usually remains untouched by other genres.

Bach: Crab Canon Visualized

Music may be an audible art form, but sometimes visuals can help, too. Jos Leys, who normally works in the field of mathematics, has created a short film illustrating Bach's "Crab Canon" from the "Musical Offering" in action.

Now, I could tell you that what makes this composition such a tour-de-force is its simple complexity. A crab canon, or cancrizan, is sort of like a round. A melody starts off, and then the second voice comes in a few beats later, and this single tune layered against itself creates the harmony (like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat).

But a crab canon has the second voice enter with the melody in reverse. So the art is to construct a tune that makes sense forwards and backwards - and can harmonize with itself in the process. Hard to understand? I agree. That's why I like this video. View, and enjoy.

An interesting video from NYT

For those of you who may have missed it, here is the lovely video essay from Anthony Tomassini (NY Times) on the bits and bytes of Bel Canto. The article is the next place to go.

Bel Canto